Love is Punishment
by RichRider
Summary: Four months have passed since the C-Virus outbreak in China. Jake and Sherry find themselves together again under normal circumstances whether by coincidence or fate. What happens when the two start to grow close? Who will accept it and who won't? Will Jake and Sherry be able to get over the tragedies of their pasts and be happy? Rated T-M for profanity.
1. Prologue

**Love is Punishment**

**Author:**_**RichRider**_

_**Disclaimer:**__**I do not own Resident Evil or any of its characters. They belong to Capcom. **_

**Preview**

She moved swiftly out of his sight knowing that his fierce blue eyes would make the figurative butterflies in her stomach float. It was a dreary day out. The clouds were covering the Sun's warm rays which Sherry desperately wanted to feel to drive away the cold chills running up her spine. The best place she could find to hide from Jake was behind the water fountain formed as a statue of a water bearer. Knowing Jake all too well, Sherry knew that hiding wasn't going to last her very long and that she will have to face Jake about their hidden feelings for each other. Unless she runs away...

Jake took his time walking up the cobblestone steps until he reached the top. Since he knew Sherry all too well she was probably hiding somewhere near the water fountain. The ex-mercenary casually walked over to the fountain with both hands shoved down black jeans pockets pretending not to see Sherry who peaked around the corner of the marble monument just now.

Sherry spun around, pressing her back against the smooth marble fountain and placing her right hand over her heart which was beating roughly against her chest.

"Crap... I hope he didn't see me," she said. The worry was evident in her tone.

When she moved her hand away from her beating heart, her fingers lightly brushed against the diamond heart necklacke around her neck. Guilt began to wash over her knowing that keeping and wearing such a gift would only provoke Jake's feelings further. Hurting him, pushing his feelings aside, and watching his face turn from one of strength to sadness only tore at her heartstrings further. She couldn't face him now. Now wasn't the time. She needed to get away and return back to Leon and Claire whom she assumed were probably already up and wondering where she and Jake have gone.

His footsteps were getting closer and Sherry moved around the fountain as quietly as she could to make her escape. Jake stopped midway, his expression changing from one of calm to irritation, and turned back around to catch Sherry before she could escape him. She walked backwards keeping her crystal blue eyes glued to her hiding spot, anticipating Jake's appearance, until she was met with a rude awakening. Sherry crashed into his hard chest, gasped, and twirled only to be met by his intense stare. If she wasn't on edge at the moment she would've stared back to admire the way Jake's eyes could have such an odd affect on her. But she avoided his look for now and cleared her throat.

"What is it Jake?" She asked but already knew what he was going to say.

"What do you think you're doing?" questioned Jake in a rough tone.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she lied. The argument was coming right now.

"Don't give me that bull. Don't hide from me either!" Jake scolded.

Sherry knew she would be lying to herself if she said that his last sentence didn't touch her heart in the slightest. But he was making this more difficult for her than she needed it to be. She didn't have any other options. She needed to go back.

"This is my job Jake. You know why I became an agent. I wanted freedom. I wanted to get away from all of the experiments. But I have to go back to D.C. I was going to tell you on my own time but I didn't know Leon was going to bring it up last night." Sherry explained, hoping with all of her might that Jake would understand.

All Jake did was sigh through his teeth and glared out in the distance at the trees rustling in the wind. Washington, Washington, Washington... it was all that continued to play over and over again in his stressed mind. It was sickening to him already knowing that Sherry will just go back to being the government's guinea pig and pet agent to fight off B.O.W.s whenever the time will arise. He sighed once more, peering down at the stone pavement underneath his black sneakers, and tried to find the right words.

"What about me? Don't you care about how I feel about all of this?! You don't have to go back and be their slave anymore!" He called out, looking at her this time.

Sherry's cheeks began to turn a pink color and she had the painful urge to let a few tears fall out. She held them back. "What am I supposed to do then Jake?"

"Stay with me!" He stated. His tone was softer this time but you could still hear the anger.

All Sherry did was stare at him in disbelief and it made the stining in her eyes even worse. She swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump forming in her throat, and shook her head. "I can't do that. And you know damn well why. Leon, Claire, my suspension, our pasts... don't pretend those aren't reasons."

Jake said nothing and only stared at her eyes, which were on the verge of tears, until he noticed the necklacke. His gift to her. She was wearing it and it was evidence enough for him to know her true feelings. He inhaled, took a step forward, and reached his right hand out to touch her hand but she gently pushed it away. "Don't Jake."

A single tear escaped from her left eye and she quickly swiped it away. She didn't dare to look up at Jake and brushed passed him to leave the area and get back to Leon and Claire. Jake stood in his spot, speechless to say the least, hearing her trail off away from him. Sherry sensed that he turned around and felt his eyes follow her down the cobblestone steps. She wanted to avoid him now at all costs, not wanting the hurt to get any bigger, but she knew he would start to chase after her. Sherry picked up her pace and was practically running away from him now.

Jake moved forward, speed walking his way down the steps and then jogged down the path to the wooden bridge. Sherry was almost halfway down the bridge when Jake called her out. "Stop right there!" He ordered in a demanding tone.

She did stop in her tracks. Not only his eyes but his voice as well had a strange affect on her will. The young agent wanted to keep going at her pace, wanted to run away and ignore the problem. But could she really run and avoid his feelings forever? Was she really scared of hurting him? Or was she afraid of entering a relationship with him knowing that the obstacles would ruin them? Sherry inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled, brushing a strand of her blonde hair behind her right ear before turning fully around to look at him. He marched over to her, the fierceness in his icy blue eyes making her feel almost weak in the knees, and stopped. Jake was a mere five feet away.

"Who the hell cares about any of that?! When I believe in you. When I want to be with you. When I... when I love you," he poured out. Those words were kept inside of him, locked away, refusing to come out until now for far too long. She needed to know it. Jake wanted her to hear it and he just didn't give a damn right now.

Sherry was stunned, shocked, and felt completely overwhelmed. He loved her. Never in her life did she expect Jake Muller, of all people, to say those words to her. The fact that he wanted her, loved her, and believed in her made the pain worse. She wasn't just afraid of hurting him. She was afraid of losing him. The part of her that was overjoyed to hear his love was now warring with the part of her that wished she never heard it. All she could do was let her tears fall now. What would happen next was another thing she never expected from Jake. He closed the gap, grabbing her right wrist with his left hand to lock it in his grasp, cupped her left cheek with his other hand... and then melded their lips.

The young blonde was stunned once again but she closed her eyes and accepted his kiss, his love for the moment, and allowed her tears to trickle down her cheeks. She dreamed about this. Now it was a reality.


	2. The Person Living in My Heart

**Love is Punishment**

**By****: RichRider**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Resident Evil or any of the characters. They belong to Capcom.**

**Author's Note****: Read and Review. Let me know what you think. I'm a fan of the characters Jake and Sherry and love their chemistry in Resident Evil 6. Hope you enjoy this story. A big thank you to my friend Hannah who helped me out with some of the Sherry's parts in this chapter. Another big thank you to my friend DJ who is my beta-reader. I appreciate and love both of you as sisters. **

**Chapter One**

_In a tunnel that has no end_

_You are a ray of light to me_

_Because you are here,_

_I can be happy._

**The Person Living in My Heart**

**Several Weeks Earlier**

**November 21, 2013**

Another assignment completed for the betterment of humankind. She should've felt proud - honored - to have helped the progression of the human race continue, but inside she felt empty. Her thoughts strayed to a single thing, or rather, a single person. As she took the club soda the flight attendant handed her, she gazed out of the window, seeing his face. "Jake..." she whispered.

As she sipped the drink, her mind phased into flashbacks of their experience a single day had gone by where she didn't think about him. The both of them had gone through hell and back together; surviving situations that any normal human being would've died from. However, she and Jake weren't considered normal. She hoped and prayed that he was safe and easing up on his constant hotheaded approach to situations. But his words to her on that cargo tram were still clear as day to her at this very moment.

_"You saved me," _he said, catching her completely off guard. They had just survived the final attempt of Ustanak, the Neo-Umbrella tyrant who was programmed, as well as hellbent, on killing them and and they witnessed his death as his corpse was flung behind them, falling into his fiery grave. Sherry watched Jake and the gratitude in his eyes made her feel special, wanted, needed and the victory was clear in her own blue eyes. _"You know that, don't you?... Thank you..." _

To Jake, the work of a mercenary was the only life he knew, the only way he'd been able to afford medical care for his ill mother, and with her gone, he had nothing left. School would've taken him years to earn a job with good pay but that was time he didn't have. Jake Muller wondered if a normal life would ever be in store for him, if he could put away his gun and live in peace without the threat of B.O.W.s hanging over his head.

He hoped for the end of these viruses being used for warfare. Maybe not today, tomorrow, or the next, but he wished for that day to come. Though this major issue in the world took center place in his mind whenever possible, another, more peaceful thought would come to push it away. That peaceful thought was always about a particular woman he effectively dubbed "Super girl".

_"Hope she'll be around the neighborhood," _he thought, wishful. "Wonder what she's been up to?" Jake muttered to himself.

"Excuse me?" an older, scrawny looking man with glasses asked the mercenary.

Jake looked over at the man next to him, giving him an annoyed look before replying. "Was I talking to you?"

The man cleared his throat and looked away. His attention was now on his iPhone and Jake peered out the window once again. The thought of seeing Sherry again was a little nerve racking to him. The only time they spent together was during the missions in Edonia and China. How would they interact under normal circumstances? Would it feel weird? Out of place? He hoped not. The last thing he wanted was for there to be any type of tension between him and Sherry.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking. I'm going to kindly ask you all to fasten your seat belts and prepare for the landing," announced the Captain.

Sherry was broken from her reverie by the announcement from the captain. She prepared to finally get free of her restraints and do something about her excess amount of energy. About ten minutes had gone by and the plane eventually landed. As everyone went through the long process of deplaning, her thoughts couldn't be shaken from the young man in her mind's eye.

"About damn time. First class would've been better without the snobs in here looking at my scar!" Jake announced in a clear, irritated tone loud enough for many to hear. He didn't give a damn whether or not the passengers gave him dirty looks and would be ready to wipe it off their faces if any retorted. Luckily, nobody bothered.

As she picked up her bag from the carousel, Sherry snickered at the man's wit and slight irritation. Her subconscious recognized the voice, but her anxiety to be free of the airport was overpowering, so she simply ignored it and moved on. Meanwhile, Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield waited patiently for Sherry to arrive. The senior agent glanced over at Claire, whose nervous shuffling hinted at anxiety as the wait dragged on. Leon couldn't help but give off one of his usual smirks and patted Claire on the shoulder. "I know its been a while but she's okay,"

Claire sighed, trying to ease up the tension in her body by stretching. "I hope she's fine. It's been so long. I'm still upset at the fact that I was the last one to know about her disappearance,"

Leon exhaled. "Claire, if I had said anything you would've panicked. I know how protective you are over her. Trust me, she's fine. Not even a scratch on her when she came back to be debriefed," he explained, hoping this would put Claire's fears to rest.

"Well I hope this latest mission she's coming back from will have her scratch-less as you say," she retorted, a bit sarcastic. Leon just sighed and shook his head at that.

"Women."

Sherry finally walked through security and felt freedom as she stepped out of the havoc inside the busy airport. She looked over into the faces of her closest friends and lit up, quickening her pace. "Leon! Claire!" she cried out, like an excited child reunited with her long lost siblings.

"Claire! Oh God I've missed you so much!" Sherry let out, love overtaking her and she embraced her best friend. Claire hugged her as tight as she could, refusing to let go and tried her hardest not to cry.

"Oh Sherry, I knew I should've tried harder to change your mind about this type of work," she proclaimed, still holding on tight.

"Don't talk about that now. Let's just enjoy this reunion," Sherry pleaded.

"I'm standing here too ya know," Leon announced, clearing his throat.

Sherry and Claire finally released each other, chuckling at Leon's suave way of making his appearance known. "Sorry Leon," apologized Sherry who then hugged the older man she called her brother.

"I'm glad you're back safe and all. Rest up today and hand in your report tomorrow. We should..." Leon paused, his cerulean eyes noticing a rather familiar looking man and nodded in the man's direction. "Isn't that Jake Muller?"

_"Jake?!" _she thought, excited. As Sherry turned swiftly to look, a stray baggage cart rolled into her, causing her to stumble and fall. A nearby man in a business suit cringed and ran to her side. "Oh, wow I am so sorry miss. It's been a hectic day..."

"Its fine sir. No need to worry," Leon stated, urging the man to go about his business. The elder agent helped Sherry up and then focused his attention back to the security area where he saw the assumed Jake. He was gone. "Guess I'm seeing things. Lets get out of here and head to my car."

Sherry nodded, recovering from the mishap and grabbing her bag once again, leaning into Claire's one-arm hug beside her. In the back of her mind, a persistent itch, a nagging feeling she couldn't get rid of, insisted that Jake Muller was somewhere nearby..."

"Who's this Jake?" Claire asked, looking to both agents for an answer as they walked out of the airport and towards the parking lot. Sherry didn't respond, still fighting internally with the thought that Jake may or may not be in the airport, forcing Leon to reply.

"He was Sherry's partner a couple of months ago. Jake is also the one who donated his blood to help create the Anti-C vaccine,"

Hearing that jogged a memory in Sherry's head. The text message he sent to her after they went their separate ways._ "I've lowered my asking price... to 50 dollars." _She felt the right corner of her lips tugging upwards to smirk at the thought. Now she was really hoping that Jake would appear.

"Wow... another piece of info where I'm the last to know. Thanks for that Leon," Claire remarked, sarcastic once again. "Do any of you know where he is? Why wasn't he on news for what he did?"

They were now by Leon's navy blue Toyota Camry. He was going to answer back when Sherry stepped in to take the reins. "We'll talk about it later Claire. Lets just get on the road already,"

"Okay. But I'm holding you to that," warned Claire.

Sherry chuckled and then noticed the car keys dangling from Leon's index finger from his right hand. "Can I drive? Please Leon!" She begged, giving him the look of a wounded puppy. It always worked on him.

The elder agent sighed and, with a smile, gave the younger one the keys. "Don't trash the car," He cautioned, stepping into the car to sit in back. Claire had already taken the passenger side.

"That's your expertise," Sherry teased to which Leon ignored.

...

"Man this is one hell of a ride!" Jake gloated, punching the gas hard to speed through the open road. It was a 2013 Nissan GTR, the only intriguing looking car at the dealership in the airport, and it was now his. He turned up the radio, putting on a hip-hop station and took a sip of his coffee. The mercenary was glad to be out of the area and away from the prying eyes of the TSA who looked at him as if he were a wanted criminal. The car dealer didn't give him such looks but he knew a few others in the establishment probably did.

All he needed to do now was find a hotel and call up his old mercenary pals to hang for the night. Though he knew that seeing them again would just bring up horrible memories from past missions he took on with them, Jake wanted to start fresh and try as best he can to forget his years of killing for money. He pushed those thoughts aside for now and kept his focus on the road, giving the car some more gas.

Lucky for Jake there was barely anybody out on the road except for a few generic cars and one navy blue Toyota Camry. For some reason he couldn't quite figure out, that car stood out to him the most. He diverged to the left, speeding past the Camry and took one last sip of his coffee before launching the styrofoam cup, a quarter of it still filled, out of the window.

Sherry and Claire chatted and occasionally laughed about different topics with Leon sulking a bit in the back. The senior agent decided to pass the time by messing around with his iPhone. He thought about bothering Hunnigan but he knew that wouldn't end well. But as Sherry drove Leon's prized automobile, suddenly, out of the blue, a white blur and a splash of black hit the windshield, causing Sherry and Claire to gasp, forcing the young blonde to swerve the car chaotically to the side. "What the - " Sherry cried out.

Leon, dropping his phone, held on to the back of Claire's seat,preventing himself from falling over and banging his head against the head rest. "What the hell just happened?!"

"I...I don't know. It looked like a coffee cup. Some jerk in front of me just tossed it out!" Sherry's face was contorted, expressing annoyance and disbelief at the callousness of the driver up ahead. She honked the horn repeatedly to get the driver's attention.

Jake stopped bobbing his head to music as soon as he heard a different tune playing. It sounded like horn. "What the hell is that shit?"

He gazed at his side mirror, noticing that it was the Toyota Camry making the honking sound with the driver extending out their arm as a way of signaling him to stop.

"T'ch. Like hell.. get lost pal!" And with that, the mercenary extended his arm out, giving the driver the good ole middle finger and punched the gas to speed away.

Sherry's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, only for it to close shut just as quickly and for her eyes to narrow. Her lip curled into a sneer, lowering her foot heavily down on the gas pedal. "That does it..." she muttered before speeding off.

"Sherry just let it-" Leon's words were cut off as soon as Sherry pressed down hard on the gas pedal sending the elder agent flying back into his seat. She drove with a purpose now - leveling the flooring of the car with force from the pedal and grabbing the clutch to shift quickly. She was an expert driver now - weaving in and out of traffic in order to bring this mindless fool to justice. She wasn't in a good mood, to say the least and that jerk sent her over the edge. "You're going down," she muttered.

Jake glanced up to his rear view mirror only to see the same Toyota Camry following him and honking the horn savagely to get his attention. He scoffed, peered over to his left side mirror and smirked. "Wanna play huh?"

"Let's play," Sherry muttered, her eyes focused on the shadow of the driver.

Jake rammed his foot down hard on the gas pedal and was almost sure that he was clear of the Camry driver. The mercenary was about to claim victory but was met with harsh disappointment. The Camry was now right in front of him, slowing down, and honking the horn for him to pull over.

Her face was set - her determination strong. She would approach this person and set matters straight and perhaps teach them some manners. Jake wasn't about to give in and swerved over to the side, speeding ahead to break away from the pursuer. When he was at a far enough distance he swerved again, stopping right in the middle of the road, and looked dead ahead down the highway in anticipation to see what would happen next.

Sherry reacted in a split-second and managed to drift, stopping in front of Jake's car, blocking him off completely. The incandescent rays of the Sun blocked Jake's view of the driver. The honking from the Camry continued and it only annoyed him further. He shifted the car into reverse, swerved around again and shifted back into drive to speed down the road.

"This guy's not giving up, is he? He's going to learn some manners!" she growled, shifting again to tail him once more.

Leon wasn't going to have anymore more of this and gripped Sherry's shoulder. "Sherry enough! Forget about this guy. You're going to cause an accident,"

"Me?! What about him?!"

"I don't care about him! I care about you. Now stop,"

Claire intervened then, placing her hand on Sherry's and nodded for her to stop. "Calm down sweetie. Let's just go home,"

The stubborn side of her kept tailing him, but once she realized that it was only fueling her with negative energy and the fact that her best friends urged her to stop, she sighed and relaxed her foot - the car gradually slowed down.

...

All Jake wanted to do was splurge for the night. Why should anyone tell him otherwise? To him, he deserved a vacation. Just to go out and spend the days doing whatever the hell he wanted sounded like a good plan to Jake. He had enough money stored away from all of his previous mercenary work.

Drinks, food, his old pals, and women they invited were all hanging out with Jake for the night in the Green Dragon Nightclub. His merc pals were pretty surprised to hear from him knowing the type of person Jake is and how he wasn't exactly known for having a nice personality. Jake was just like them back in the day. Money was the only thing on their mind and the only thing they cared about. But, they managed to be a little more social than Jake ever attempted to be.

"I'm shocked that you, of all people, would call us out for a good time Jake. You're not what we would call a... people person," said Jeremy, taking a swig of his beer.

Jake smirked and grabbed his own pint. "Changed man. I've decided to be a little less anti-social,"

"Hm.. don't know if that's a good thing or bad thing. Either way, I'm happy to know you're paying for tonight. Right guys?" Jeremy hollered to the other three men. They apparently didn't hear him and just kept chatting with the women. "Schmucks. By the way Jake, did you ever run into that blonde chick?" asked Jeremy.

Jake placed his pint down, curious. "What are you talking about?"

"Back when the shit hit the fan in Edonia, this young chick came up to me, asking me if I knew you. She looked real young too. I thought she was a teenager," Jeremy explained, noticing the realization coming into view on Jake's face.

_"Sherry..." _thought Jake. He leaned back against his seat , letting out a sigh before grabbing his beer for another gulp. "Yeah I've met her. What's it to you?"

Jeremy chuckled at that. "Nah nothin'. Just a..." He leaned in to speak next to Jake to speak low. "Did you bang her?"

Jake immediately grabbed him by the collar. His eyes hardened at the fellow merc. "What did you just say?!"

"Chill the hell out!"

"You don't talk about her that way. Got it?! This is me being nice. Don't piss me off!" Jake spat, kinda throwing the man back into his chair. "It's also none of your goddamn business,"

The others watched on, a bit annoyed at the fact that Jeremy just had to provoke Jake. A few of the women had on looks of disgust. Jeremy fixed his shirt, took another swig of beer and then slammed it down on the table. "See you still got anger management issues..."

...

"Ah! It feels great to be back home," Sherry announced, throwing herself on the couch. Claire giggled a bit and sat down next to the young woman she loved and cared for as a little sister/daughter for the past fifteen years.

"I know the feeling," Claire said. A warm feeling began to arise in her heart seeing the smile on Sherry's face. "Sweetie, I know you don't like discussing this but do you have to continue this line of work?"

The smile fell from her lips and she sighed. She knew Claire was only looking out for her well being and she had every right to do so. But she wanted to make this clear to the woman she viewed as her savior, best friend, older sister, and mother. "Claire, I know it's dangerous and you're worried about me. But seriously, I'm fine. Despite all that has happened this year I feel good. I feel great knowing that I am making a difference,"

Claire listened to her as she always did. She felt proud to know and see what a strong and beautiful woman Sherry has become. But the worry for her safety was still in her heart. She guessed that a part of her still viewed Sherry as that same, vulnerable twelve year old girl from Raccoon City. "Just do your best to be safe Sherry. When I heard from Leon that you had gone missing I... I didn't know what to think," Claire informed. Her eyes glistened with tears about to fall.

Sherry shifted closer to Claire, wrapping her arms around the red head's shoulders, and smiled. "I'm okay Claire. Really, I'm fine. I thought I wasn't going to come back either. But..." she began, remembering a certain man that came to her rescue. "I wasn't without help,"

"That Jake guy Leon mentioned at the airport, right?" asked Claire.

Sherry nodded. Just hearing his name was enough to make her smile with an infinite amount of gratitude. "It was my mission to bring him in for the vaccine. Of course, it wasn't easy. When is it ever for us fighters? Jake and I went through hell together but we stood tall and risked our lives for each other. I guess he's become a part of me," she admitted, staring off at nothing in particular.

Despite her earlier urge to cry, Claire pulled a grin, turning her head to gaze at Sherry's dream state. "A part of you that you can't let go,"

The young blonde's cheeks blushed a rose color and she cleared her throat. "I'll uh... go use the bathroom. Be right back!" She announced, hurrying off to the restroom.

Claire giggled. "I'll get dinner ready!"

...

Jake didn't know how much time had passed, how many drinks he had, and how much food he ate but he did know that he was blasted. As he looked around the table, his pals and the women were in the same state as himself. It was time for the bill to which the waitress kindly handed over to Jake. He glanced over the tiny piece of paper, not noticing the ridiculous amount being charged, and reached down into his black jeans pocket to pay in cash. Nothing in the right. He checked the left. Nothing in there. Checked the back pockets. Nada. Checked his coat pockets. Zip.

"Oh man, you stupid asshole you left the money in the hotel room," Jake muttered in an irritable tone.

Jeremy shot up, fully awake from his light drift into unconsciousness. "Y-You have no-a mon-ey Jake? Hey guys! H-He's a got no money. I thought he was a payin. I ain't got money. None of us do. You said you were payin," He whined.

Jake winced, rubbing his forehead and then slamming his hand down on the table to get the groups attention. "All of you, get out! Now!"

He didn't have to tell any of them twice and they all got up, giving Jake various types of goodnights with Jeremy lingering a bit more. "We'll catch up with you again sometime Jake,"

Jake waved his hand back in forth in a shooing motion to which Jeremy then left, leaving the twenty-one year old all alone. The waitress witnessed the whole scene, listened to every word, and cleared her throat. "I guess I am going to have to get the manager then,"

"Oh great!" he groaned, closing his eyes. A hopeless idea came into his mind but an idea nonetheless. Jake took out his cell from his right coat pocket and scrolled through the contacts list. The name "Super Girl" caught his attention and he dared to call the number. It began to ring. The waitress had already gone off to get the manager to explain the situation.

"Come on! Come on! Pick up!" Jake half yelled into his cell phone. The urge to pass out from his heavy food and alcohol intake was evident in his droopy eyes.

Before he knew it, the manager came to his table, but with two burly bouncers at either side.

Back at Sherry's apartment, the young blonde was dressed and ready for bed when her ringtone tingled out on the bedside table. She frowned slightly in curiosity as to who was calling her, but she walked over, yawning and picked up the phone.

"Ring, ring, ring,... come on!" Jake shouted, still on the verge of passing out from his heavy alcohol intake.

She had to do a double take when JAKE showed up on the screen. She hesitated, but couldn't deny the flutter in her stomach any longer. She cleared her throat, smiled gently, then pressed the green button before speaking. "Hello?"

"Yo, come here and pay the bill. Get these...jerk offs away from me." Jake demanded. His eyes opened and closed repeatedly, telling the manager that Jake, at least to him, was wasting his time further and wrenched the phone out of his hand to speak to the receiver. "Excuse me, I'm the manager of Green Dragon Nightclub. Your friend here doesn't have enough money to pay for his bill. Are you able to come down here and help settle this problem?"

Sherry blinked rapidly, feeling disappointment rise in her chest from the unexpected phone call, but her desperation to see Jake again was overwhelming, even under such circumstances. "Y-yes, sir. I apologize on his behalf. I'll be there shortly."

She knew where the club was located. Though Sherry wasn't the type to go clubbing, she took note of all the popular hang out spots in Arlington. The young agent got dressed in her previous casual attire, left the apartment, and hollered out for a cab to take her to the Green Dragon. The thought of seeing Jake again after all of these months excited her to the very core of her heart but she wished it would've been during a more leisurely situation.

...

The manager kept watch on the sleeping Jake, shaking his head at the young mercenary and groaned. From the corner of his eye, the manger caught Sherry jogging over to him and put up his hand to stop her from going further. "Were you the one on the phone?"

"Yes, I'm Sherry."

"This is your friend's bill. Its $948.50." The manager informed while handing her the bill with a forced smile. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped, taking the bill with a reluctant hand.

"You've got to be kidding. How is he still breathing? How much did he have?"

"Its all there on the bill Miss." He stated, grinning. "Now will you be paying with cash, credit, or debit?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa - just a minute here. First of all, how could you let someone drink that much? It's a surprise he's not dead you idiot!"

"Jesus Christ! Can't a guy sleep around here?" Jake hollered while forcing himself off his seat and pushing away from the table. He managed to stand up on his own two feat and with slightly blurred vision, stared straight at Sherry. "Bout damn time. Pay the bill." He ordered, walking right past her to leave the club and dug into his coat pocket for his car keys.

Sherry looked to Jake - felt a sharp wave of pleasure - then another bigger wave of irritation, but slight amusement as well. "You owe me for this, Jake," she said, paying the bill.

Once outside, Sherry witnessed Jake wobbling over to a very familiar car. She narrowed her eyes. "Ah so you were the one..."

Sherry was tempted to lecture him. But, seeing as how she was dealing with a drunk at the moment, she pushed the thought aside and grabbed the keys from out of his hands. He would hear from her as soon he sobered up.

"Let's go, lush," she said, taking one of his arms to put it around her neck so she could steer him towards the car and helped him into the passenger side.

The car was set in motion and along the way Sherry kept nudging Jake awake to tell her where he was staying. "I told you! Turn right here!"

"Jake, if I turn right, I'll be in a field," she said, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Then turn left."

She sighed, but couldn't help grinning at his state. After twenty minutes of driving around they finally arrived at the hotel Jake was staying in. It was way too fancy for Sherry's sake but she figured that Jake had plenty of money stored away from all of his past mercenary work. Jake opened his eyes to see the hotel's lights beam brightly in his face and he got himself out of the car. He staggered over to the entrance without uttering a single word despite hearing Sherry tell him to stop and wait for her.

"Jake, you're going to kill yourself - not that I wouldn't mind right about now!' she said, irritated, but still concerned about his well being.

Jake growled, setting himself free from Sherry's hold and roughly grabbed the back of her collar, practically dragging her over to the elevators.

"Jake! Jake - watch - ugh...Jake..." she struggled with him and her annoyance level was increasing by the minute. "You are so dead..."

"How about we settle this mano-o-mano on the roof?" He threatened, grasping her collar even tighter and smacked her on the bottom.

She gasped sharply, then turned in a flash, knocking him square in the jaw with a right body stood in the same position, his face turned to the side from the impact of Sherry's punch and eyes wide open. He finally fell down on the marble floor and was out like a light. Sherry gasped again from the quick succession of events and bent down to Jake, checking him. "Jake? Jake, can you hear me? ...Damn...he's out cold..."


End file.
